“Since the games industry became hot four-to-five years ago, a lot of schools have jumped on the bandwagon.

Bink and his contemporaries are seeing the first students to emerge from these new courses to enter the jobs market in a sector that’s still establishing its national foothold.

“The older companies are able to support only a small percentage of these aspiring game developers; the others need to look for a job abroad, or create them themselves.”

However, some developers, such as Triumph Studios’ MD Lennart Sas, have praised the support universities in Breda and Utrecht have shown in the form of investment.

In order to generate more jobs though, the Netherlands’ games trade body has called on the government to invest in its national games industry.

“More and more the lobbying of the Dutch Games Association seems to be paying off. We are now recognised as a key growth market by our government, and we’re working together to find out ways to further unleash our potential. Comparing our sector to the film industry here is difficult; that sector is used to getting support for their productions because of the relatively small local market they’re operating in, and the cultural value they represent,” added Pim Bouman, chairman of the DGA.

Bink, Bouman and others talked at length about the issues facing the Netherlands’ games sector in a recent region focus.